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A Trip to IKEA
Recently, I wrote about how we had finished paying off our student loans and getting out of debt except for the mortgage. It seems that ever since then, I feel like I’ve been on a big spending spree. Maybe it’s like the traditional "yo-yo" diet, where you eat hardly anything for a while and then you binge. Since I have been putting off big purchases for a while to focus on the debt, maybe now the pendulum is swinging back in the other direction.
There are some necessary things on my list (new tires, new windshield) but most of the list is filled with "wants" (wireless printer, bigger monitor, etc). I haven’t purchased many of the "wants" yet, but I have accumulated quite a list. I hadn’t, that is, until yesterday when we dropped our kids off at their grandparents, cleared everything out of the van, and headed off to IKEA with visions of flat-pack furniture and meatballs.
What is the appeal of IKEA?
I’ll be honest, I love going to IKEA (other than the part about spending lots of money each time we go). I like the look of their furniture. I like the show-room. They seem to have a number of interesting pieces that I just don’t see other places. I like looking at the funky accoutrements they sell. I generally like the price. I like the restaurant. (I do NOT like that most of the checkout lanes are self-checkout now, but that’s another story).
IKEA is not convenient for most
All of this got me thinking about IKEA and how it is a very unique experience in American culture. First, there aren’t many IKEA stores around. Most people have to drive hours to get to one. When we lived in North Carolina, we’d have to drive four hours to the in-laws house and then another 1.5 to get to IKEA, but we still did it a couple times. Americans love convenience – and driving hours and hours to buy furniture is not convenient. On top of that, there is the whole experience of having to walk through the warehouse yourself and pile up your furniture purchases (flat-packed at least) onto a cart and wheel that up to the checkout. Again, this is not convenient – but many people still do it. On our way to IKEA, we stopped at a friend’s house. They had just had their second child and we dropped off a meal for them. There was another couple visiting and when we mentioned that we were on our way to IKEA, they said "Ooh, IKEA! We were just there two weeks ago."
IKEA doesn’t sell ultra high-end stuff that the cool people "need"
The furniture IKEA sells is decent furniture priced inexpensively. This is not like buying jewelry from Tiffany or getting your wedding gown from Vera Wang (it took me a while to come up with an example…I guess I’m not used to shopping at these places). In our culture, I can see people spending gobs of money and time to purchase the perfect, "must-have" item from really high-end boutiques (just like the one all the celebriteis have)…but I don’t think of IKEA as a high-end boutique.
So why do people go to IKEA?
Is this real life? Normal people want to buy nice furniture without drastically overpaying so they make the trek to IKEA? Do all people do this? Or just people like me (or us?) who want good value and don’t need to tell their friends, "yes, it’s from Ethan Allen." (sorry, that’s they highest-end furniture store I could think of…I guess I really need to watch more commercials on TV) Though we do it, telling people, "it’s from IKEA" doesn’t seem to have the same cachet (maybe with the value minded it does!)
Anyway, the store was packed full of people yesterday; I’ve never seen it that crowded. Of course, we shopped for hours, ate some meatballs, and spent a lot of money. (I can’t imagine how much they grossed at just that one store yesterday!)
Does anyone else out there shop at IKEA? Do you think it’s silly to drive all that way just to spend all that money? Or do you agree that it is a fun place to browse through and get some good deals?
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4 Responses to “A Trip to IKEA”
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Although I love shopping at Ikea because the stuff is cool and fits my style, I am not sure that I would agree that it is decent furniture. Most of there stuff is only meant to last a few years if you treat it well. We have two higher end Ikea bedroom pieces and I had to fix the drawers multiple times within 5 years.
This isn’t the type of stuff that you are going to pass down to your children. It is built such that you have and want to go back in 5 to ten years to get the newest style.
We are about to buy a new house in the Spring and we are leaning to more expensive furniture. Not the type were you are paying for a brand, but were you are paying for design, craftsmanship, and quality. The stuff I can pass down to my children, who will be raised to appreciate that type of history and quality.
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@The Happy Rock,
I agree that most of the IKEA furniture is not of heirloom quality. When I say “decent” I mean it is basically middle of the road quality – not really nice stuff to pass onto your children but not the really cheap stuff either.
We’ve actually had good luck with our IKEA stuff. We’ve had a pair of upholstered chairs for about a decade and a solid wood kitchen table (that we love) for a few years now.
As much as possible I try not to get Ikea furniture, but sometimes there are small things like a corner chair, a small bench, and kids activity stuff that I found suitable. Plus, Ikea stores are huge, great for my daughter to run around in. A good place to visit.
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